Called a sex predator, powerful ex-prosecutor faces prison

In this Monday, Aug. 8, 2016 photo, Tammy Glover, whose daughter, Danelle Keim, was a key witness in the case against former St. Charles Parish District Attorney Harry Morel before she died of a drug overdose in 2013, pauses while speaking at her home in Destrahan, La. Former Louisiana prosecutor Harry Morel, 73, is accused of soliciting sex from at least 20 women in exchange for favorable treatment faces sentencing, Wednesday Aug. 17, 2016, on a single charge of obstruction of justice. Morel faces a maximum of three years in prison under his guilty plea. According to the FBI and the local sheriff, the 73-year-old prosecutor solicited sex from at least 20 women, including Danelle Keim, in exchange for favorable treatment. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(The Associated Press)

In this undated family photo provided by Tammy Glover, Danelle Keim, who was a key witness in the case against former St. Charles Parish District Attorney Harry Morel before she died of a drug overdose in 2013, poses with her son Tyler. Former Louisiana prosecutor Harry Morel, 73, is accused of soliciting sex from at least 20 women in exchange for favorable treatment faces sentencing, Wednesday Aug. 17, 2016, on a single charge of obstruction of justice. Morel faces a maximum of three years in prison under his guilty plea. According to the FBI and the local sheriff, the 73-year-old prosecutor solicited sex from at least 20 women, including Danelle Keim, in exchange for favorable treatment. (Courtesy of Tammy Glover via AP)
(The Associated Press)

In this Monday, Aug. 8, 2016 photo, Tessie Keim, whose sister, Danelle Keim, was a key witness in the case against former St. Charles Parish District Attorney Harry Morel before she died of a drug overdose in 2013, pauses while speaking at her home in Destrahan, La. Former Louisiana prosecutor Harry Morel, 73, is accused of soliciting sex from at least 20 women in exchange for favorable treatment faces sentencing, Wednesday Aug. 17, 2016, on a single charge of obstruction of justice. Morel faces a maximum of three years in prison under his guilty plea. According to the FBI and the local sheriff, the 73-year-old prosecutor solicited sex from at least 20 women, including Danelle Keim, in exchange for favorable treatment.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(The Associated Press)

DESTREHAN, La. – A former Louisiana prosecutor who was accused of soliciting sex from at least 20 women in exchange for favorable treatment faces his own sentencing Wednesday in federal court.

Harry Morel served as the elected District Attorney of St. Charles Parish outside New Orleans for more than three decades. Now he faces a maximum of three years in prison after pleading guilty to a single obstruction charge.

The deal closed the case, reflecting the difficulty of balancing the scales of justice between a powerful defendant and vulnerable victims.

The FBI caught Morel on video groping and trying to kiss a woman who had been arrested for drunken driving. But that woman died before Morel faced any charges, and many of the cases happened too long ago to prosecute.